Cantilever rack



Aug. 25, 1970 Filed March 27, 1968 w. H. NovALr-:s

CANTILVER RACK 3 Sheets-@Sheet 1 ,mi nl WILL/AM H. NOVL ES mm M @Mr/5f(A T TORNEYS l Aug.i25,"1f9'u0 w. H. NQVALES l 3,525,442

CANTILEVER nyAcx Filed March 27, 1958l 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

WIL L/AM H. NOVALES WMM 7%@ ATTORNEYS United States Patent O Int. Cl.A47b 96/12, 96/14 U.S. Cl. 211--176 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA cantilever rack having one or more rectangular vertical columns withhorizontal arms extending therefrom wherein the column has a series ofholes on one face of the column and the arm has a flat plate adapted tolie against the face of the column with a pin extending therefromadapted to extend into one of said holes, the cantilever arm havingextensions formed of angle iron extending on both sides of and beyondthe column with means on the side of the column opposite the pin forfastening the two arms together. The fastening means can comprise atapered pin passing through holes in the extensions or can comprise abar held by lugs on the extension or an angle iron may be bolted to theextensions to form the holding means.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is acontinuation in part of Ser. No. 549,620 filed May l2, 1966, nowabandoned.

BACKGROUND OF T HE INVENTION Field of the invention Cantilever armstorage rack.

Description of the prior art The closest prior art known is that citedin the above identified parent application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This application relates to storage rackscommonly known as cantilever adjustable arm racks which consist of aplurality of steel columns with horizontal arms fastened thereto whichare used for storage purposes. Such racks are frequently used to permitthe lift truck storage of long parts or commodities such as pipe,plywood and the like. Such racks are also frequently provided with shelfmembers extending along the arms to permit the storage of articles ofvarious sizes. Such racks must be made very strong since they arefrequently used for the storage of heavy articles. Further, such racksare ordinarily made so that they can be easily adjusted to permitstorage of articles of various sizes. Conventionally the columns in suchracks are punched with a plurality of holes on either side of thecolumns into which single arms can be hooked or a similar pattern ofholes punched in the back of the column so that double arms can behooked into the racks. Such arms are conventionally locked into theholes by means of studs welded on the arms or by means of a wedgeinserted into rectangular slots in the column. The column is ordinarilywelded or otherwise fastened to a base which is slightly longer than thearms of the rack.

Most of the racks heretofore known of this description have subjectedthe column to tearing action caused by the arms tending to rotate as aload is applied to the arm, placing the metal in tension. This hasrequired that the columns be made of heavy gage material to resist thetearing action.

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In accordance with the present invention a superior form of cantileveradjustable arm rack is provided having easy means of adjustment of therack on the column.

Another object of this invention is to provide a structure wherein thearm ts over the column so that pressure on the arm tends to compress thecolumn rather than tearing it. In this manner, a rack having a givencapacity can be made with lighter gage columns.

Still another object of this invention is to provide for bracing of theseveral columns by using a similar fastener to hold the braces whichfastening may or may nor be part of an arm. The bracing of this type ofrack is rather critical when one considers that the columns may be 20feet tall with a plurality of arms on each column supporting as much as20 tons.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation of acantilever adjustable arm rack embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the rack shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detailed view on the line 3 3 of FIG. l.

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective View of a brace member embodying thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial view of an arm of simplied design adaptedfor relatively light storage.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing another embodiment of the inventionwherein a bar operating against lugs locks the column in place.

FIG. 8 is an assembled side elevation of the device shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the use of an angle iron to lockthe arms in place.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingsby reference characters the rack of the present invention comprises aplurality of columns 6, 8, 10, and 12 each of said columns beinggenerally rectangular in cross section, as is best seen in FIG. 5 andeach having a plurality of holes 14, punched at regular intervals in thefront face of the column. The columns are provided with a base member 16having gusset plates 18 the whole being assembled by Welding, bolting orother suitable means. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, double columnshaving posts l6 and 6A are employed with tie members 20 welded to thecolumns at suitable intervals to hold them in iixed relationship.However, the physical structure of the column itself does not form partof the invention and it is obvious that only single columns might beemployed such as when it is desired to have the arms of a rack extendfrom a wall with storage substantially against the wall.

The adjustable arms are generally designated 22 and may be of taperedconfiguration as is shown in FIG. 2. Preferably the arms are of a boxstructure having at least side members as at 24 and a top member 28. Inthe embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the arms are provided with a flatplate member 30 which is adapted to lie ilush against a column and whichhas a pin 32 extending therefrom, said pin being adapted to tit in oneof the holes 14 on one of the columns. This plate is suitably securedinto the -end of the box member by welding. Attached near the end of thearm 22 are the extension members 34 and 36 which extend on either sideof the column as is best seen in FIG. 4 and extend beyond the column asis shown in FIG. 3. The extensions 34 and 36 are made of angle ironIhaving two webs at to each other, one of the webs 38 lying flushagainst the side wall of the column While the other web 40 extendsoutwardly at 90 therefrom. The extension members overlap the arms asuitable length for the necessary strength. Further, gussets 25 may bewelded between the arms and the extensions for added strength. Side webs34 and 36 have holes 42 Itherein, preferably with the center line of thehole lined approximately with the back face of the column. A half roundtapered wedge 44 completes the assembly. Thus to place the arm on therack it is only necessary to move the arm to the desired location andpush the pin 32 into the desired hole 14. The tapered pin 44 is thendriven into the holes 42 locking the structure firmly in place. It willbe seen that as a load is applied to the arm, the base is given atwisting motion and that the column is loaded in compression, not intension. Thus, there is no tearing movement on the column and arelatively light gage column is enabled to support a relatively heavyload.

One form of brace support is shown in FIG. 5. This comprises two sidemembers generally designated 46 and 48 each of which is made of angleiron having a horizontal web 50 and a vertical web 52. The side membersare connected together by a face plate 54 having a pin 56 extendinginwardly therefrom. The horizontal members have suitable holes 58 sothat a cross brace 60 can be fastened thereto by suitable means such asbolt 62. The vertical members have holes 64 so that a bolt or othersuitable fastening means 66 can be inserted therein to lock the bracesupport to the post 6. It will be recognized that the structure shown inFIG. is substantially that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 except that thesupporting arm s lacking. Indeed, the structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4can also be used to support a horizontal brace as well as forming partof a support arm for holding commodities. Thus the Webs 34 and 36 mayhave suitable holes 35 and 37 therein to which can be fastened a crossbrace 61 as is shown in phantom in FIG. 3.

The structures thus far described have been relatively heavy duty unitsbut for the storage of relatively light and particularly bulkycommodities, a lighter duty structure such as that shown in FIG. l6 maybe employed. In accordance With this embodiment of the invention, arm 63has flat extension members 65 and 67 thereon which may be furtherreinforced by means 0f a gusset 70. A face plate 72 having pin 74 isemployed as before and the arms 65 and 67 have suitable holes 76 towhich a half round tapered pin 78 can be inserted.

It should be noted that the inwardly extending pins, i.e. 32, 56, and 74are not primarily load supporting pins but rather are merely locatingpins to hold the arm lightly at the desired place on the column.Primarily the load support cornes through the fact that as a load isapplied to the arm it tends to twist, compressing the column and causingthe arm to tighten its grip of the column.

In some instances, it is preferred to not employ the tapered pin 78 butinstead use other means to lock the arm to the column.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, arm 124 is provided with extensionsgenerally designated 134 made of angle iron each of which has a side web138 and a top web 140. The arm is provided with a pin 156 adapted tomate with a hole 114 in the column 106. On the top web, lugs 141 and 143are attached by any suitable means, such as Welding. A cross member 145is provided and, as can best be seen in FIG. 8, it is merely necessaryto place the pin 156 in an appropriate hole with the arms extendingbeyond the column and then drop the cross member 145 in place where itlocks the arm securely against the lugs 141 and 143. Preferably thecross member 145 has end members 147 and 149 to securely lock the crossmember in place and prevent it from sliding out. This is particularlyvaluable if the rack may be subjected to vibrations as might beencountered in an industrial plant or during an earthquake.

It is preferred that the extensions 134 be set at a slight angle to thearm 124, i.e. the angle between the end of the arm 124 and the member134 is slightly greater than Thus, referring to FIG. 8, if the angle Ais made about 92, a more secure locking action is achieved. The arm isplaced on the column and the member 145 dropped in place and then as aload is applied to the arm 124, a wedging action occurs insuring a tightstructure. Thus when the arm 124 is first put into place, the end 130thereof will be in contact with the column only at its top and will beslightly away from the column at the bottom of the member. Then, as themember 145 is slipped into place and a weight is placed on arm 124, arm124 will move down slightly to assume the horizontal position whereuponthe end will come into full contact with the column throughout itsheight and the cross member will be locked securely in place insuring atight structure.

Another method of locking the arms in place is shown in FIG. 9. Here' anangle iron 160 having one web 162 in contact with the column and asecond web 164 in contact with the top faces of the extensions 134 isfastened by bolts 166 to the latter. The angle iron 160 may be a shortpiece, as is shown in FIG. 9 which is merely long enough to span thewebs or it may be a portion of a long piece of angle iron running fromone column to the next, providing bracing between the columns.

Although this invention can =be made with various sizes of material, inone practical embodiment of the invention, the columns consisted of apair of ten foot 2 x 4 structural rectangular tubing with 7A6 inch holesdrilled on 3 inch center on one of the two inch surfaces on eac'h of thecolumns. The arms were made of 2 x 4 tubing 48 inches long having a /lginch steel plate welded to one end of the tube. This plate had a 3%;inch diameter pin welded on as is shown at 32. The side membersconsisted of two pieces each 7 inches long of angle iron 11/2 inches by2 inches by 1A inch which were welded to the 2 x 4 tubing. Twotriangular pieces of gusset plate 1%6" thick were then welded to thetubing and to the angle iron immediately below the angle leg.

It is obvious that many variations can be made in the exact structureshown without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a cantilever rack including a rectangular vertical column and ahorizontal arm extending therefrom the improvement comprising:

(a) a plurality of holes in a rst face of the vertical column;

(b) a at vertical plate on the horizontal arm, said plate being adaptedto lie flush with said rst face of said column;

(c) a pin on said plate, said pin extending into one of said holes;

(d) extensions on the horizontal arm, said extensions lying on oppositesides of the column and extending beyond said column each of saidextensions comprising an angle iron having two webs at right angles toeach other, with one of said webs lying flush with the side wall of thecolumn and the other web extending at right angles to the column, and

(e) fastening means extending between the said extensions, said meansbeing flush with said column.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes:

(a) holes in said extensions, said holes having a center linesubstantially even with a second face on said column;

(b) said second face being opposite said first face; and

(c) a tapered pin passing through the holes in said extensions andlocking against said second face.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein a plurality of columns are employedwith horizontal brace members extending between the columns, said bracemembers being fastened to the column by a structure having incombination:

(a) a flat vertical plate with a pin extending therefrom;

v(b) said at plate being adapted to lie against said first face of saidcolumn with the pin extending into one of the holes in the column;

(c) extensions on said plate, said extensions lying on opposite sides ofsaid columns and extending beyond a second face opposite the first face;

(d) holes in said extensions with a pin passing through said holes lyingagainst said second face and locking the structure to the column; and

(e) a horizontal brace member attached to the upper side of saidextensions.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said fastening means includes:

(a) lugs extending upwardly from the webs extending at right angles tothe column, said lugs being located beyond the column and spacedtherefrom, and

(b) a cross member extending between the lugs and occupying the spacebetween the lugs and the column.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein said fastening CII means includes anangle iron bolted to the webs which extend at right angles to thecolumn.

6. The structure of claim 1 wherein the extensions form an angle ofabout 92 with the plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary ExaminerU.S. C1. X.R.

